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CARLSON
COLLECTS CHECKERED IN SPECTACULAR FINISH
AT MADISON!
OREGON, WI. (September 8, 2006)
- The following formula all came into
play at Madison International Speedway
as The Wisconsin Challenge Series
presented by Simply WOW made it's second
trip of the season on the high-banked
asphalt oval. Add together two
hard charging drivers coming off the
final turn headed for a checkered flag,
sprinkle in a lapped car, add a pinch of
season veteran about ready to settle for
third spot after a nearly flawless 100
laps of hard racing action and what do
you get? One of the most
spectacular finishes in Wisconsin
Challenge Series history.
Heading into the final lap of the
Wisconsin Challenge Series 100 presented
by Bryden Motors, Nathan Haseleu had the
lead and appeared headed for his fifth
straight WCS win, on his rear bumper was
Dave Feiler of Sun Prairie, the winner
of the WCS race at Madison International
Speedway back in May. Ahead of
Haseleu, one lapped car of Brian Class
and a half-mile of racetrack between he
and the checkered flag. And almost
unnoticed at the time, Steve Carlson of
West Salem, who had a strong run, but
was sitting several car lengths back in
the third spot.
Coming off turn two on
the final lap Class drifted up in front
of Haseleu forcing him to slow slightly
and allowing Feiler and opportunity to
make a run at the lead. Haseleu
reacted quickly shooting to the outside
of the lapped car, while Feiler chose
the bottom line. The lead pair
headed into turn three with Feiler
drawing alongside Haseleu as the pair
entered the final turns with Class now
in the low groove. The lead duo
would have to drift up the racetrack to
avoid contact with the lapped car and
continue the battle. That contact
however caused both cars to slide toward
the wall coming off turn four, with both
Haseleu and Feiler nosing hard into the
wall. Haseleu's mount turned
upside down and briefly caught first as
the duo slid to stop 10 yards from the
finish line. Carlson meanwhile,
drove low on the racetrack and would
reach the finish line first taking the
victory after having only lead the final
few feet of the 100 lap contest. A
surprised Carlson made his way to
victory lane, collecting his first
career Wisconsin Challenge Series
checkered flag. Jeremy Lepak of
Wausau who ran strong throughout the
event would be awarded third, followed
by Frank Kreyer of Pardeeville who
finished in the third spot.
Haseleu would officially
be awarded 16th with the 17th spot going
to Feiler. Class was moved
from his finishing position to the tail
of the official rundown for failing to
yield to the race leaders.
The field of 24 roared
to life with Andy Monday of Appleton and
Andrew Morrissey of DeForest bringing
the field ton the green flag. Morrissey,
with many laps of competition on the
high banked half-mile oval used his
knowledge of the raceway to charge into
the lead while Monday began to fall back
on the inside.
Monday would continue to
backpedal losing spots to Lepak,
and Kenny Richards who stood in second
in the series standings heading into the
program. Steve Rubeck, the winner
of the season opening WCS contest at
Rockford Speedway, and Kreyer joined the
top five by the time the 10th trip
around the raceway was in the books.
Deep in the field
Carlson who edged Haseleu for the
fastest qualifying lap of the 43 cars in
the pit area, had been quickly working
forward and found himself reaching the
sixth spot.
Carlson was on a mission
working the outside line to his
advantage quickly surpassing Kreyer and
Rubeck to place himself into the fourth
spot by lap 12.
Out front Morrissey was
driving a flawless race keeping his
silver number 39 machine out front with
Lepak keeping the pressure on as the
pair blazed around the raceway.
Deeper in the pack
Haseleu was also beginning to flex some
muscle as he slowly marched toward the
front. By lap 20, the defending
Wisconsin Challenge Series champion had
placed himself into the fifth position.
With the race reaching
the 25 lap mark the top five saw
Morrissey continuing to show the way in
his strongest WCS effort of the year.
Lepak held fast to the second spot three
car lengths out of the lead.
Carlson was up to third after passing
Richards for the spot on lap 21, while
Richards and Haseleu comprised the top
five.
The battle between
Haseleu and Richards for the season
title would play out on the track as
Haseleu dashed by for the fourth
position moments later.
The race began to settle
in with the duo of Morrissey and Lepak
showing the way and Carlson sitting
eight car lengths back in third.
Haseleu maintained the fourth spot and
Richards remained in the top five until
lap 35 when Kreyer made his way by to
take the position.
The battle for the
season long point title would take a
dramatic turn when Richards suddenly
slowed on lap 41 dropping to the back of
the pack. His car would roll to a
halt in turn two forcing the only
slowdown of the contest. His
machine was pushed to the pit area, and
he would return after losing nine laps
to the field after making repairs.
The halfway point of the
event saw Morrissey still in command
chased by Lepak, Carlson, Haseleu, and
Kreyer in the top five. Steve
Holzhausen, Jeff Kendall, Monday, Feiler
and Adam Royle completed the top ten at
the halfway point. As the second
half of the race began fans had several
activities to watch. The
methodical march of Haseleu toward the
front, and Feiler's impressive charge
through the pack after starting 17th on
the grid.
On lap 57 Haseleu nosed
under Carlson coming off turn two to
advance into the third position and
quickly closed on the lead duo of
Morrissey and Lepak. Haseleu now
methodically closed on Lepak and darted
under him heading into turn three on lap
63. The chase was now on as
Morrissey fought valiantly to hold onto
the lead. For awhile it appeared
Morrissey would have the speed to
maintain the top spot as both he and
Haseleu began to pull away from Lepak.
Further back Feiler was
on a missing passing car after car
working forward, by lap 73 Feiler had
reached the top five.
Morrissey meanwhile
began to slide in the corners and
Haseleu started marching for a way to
the lead. The opportunity came on
lap 81 when Haseleu worked to
Morrissey's inside took over the top
spot coming off turn two. Many
would have thought it was now simply a
matter of time before Haseleu would earn
his 5th straight checkered.
However, Feiler was a
man on a mission. Much has he had
done in the WCS race in spring, Feiler
continued to press toward the front,
turning the fastest laps of any car on
the raceway. He would march by
Morrissey as he faded, power past Lepak,
and drive by Carlson as he placed
himself into the second spot with 15
laps to go. With each passing lap
Feiler would close the gap, down from
ten car lengths as lap 90, to a couple
by lap 95. Carlson meanwhile,
almost unnoticed had a secure hold on
the third position, with Morrissey
trying to hold off Kreyer for the fourth
spot.
The machines of Blake
Horstman and Class lied ahead of the
lead duo of Haseleu and Feiler and both
received the move over lap on lap 96.
Horstman in a sportsman like gesture,
moved low on the track and let the
leaders pass unhindered. Class
however maintained his pace attempting
to stay on the lead lap. The duo
of Haseleu and Feiler would reach Class
on the final lap. The mishap
coming off turn four heading to the
checkered would result in the leaders
Haseleu and Feiler eliminated from the
contest in a grinding crash.
Carlson raced past the tangled machines
for a stunning upset victory.
Lepak would turn in his strongest WCS
performance of the year reaching second.
Kreyer, slipped past
Morrissey during the final laps of the
event to claim third. Morrissey
nursed an ill-handling car home in the
fourth spot, while Holzhausen completed
the top five.
Jeremy Miller took
sixth, Adam Royle turned a late race
charge into a seventh place finish the
highest finishing car to come from a
qualifying race. Dennis Prunty has
a strong run grabbing the eighth spot.
Dean Cornelius took ninth, and Jeff
Kendall, completed the top ten runners.
Earlier in the evening a
pair of qualifying races set the balance
of the field for the main event.
Brian Johnson Jr., dominated the first
contest finishing ahead of Kyle Calmes
who was making his second career WCS
start after a strong run at the
Milwaukee Mile two weeks ago.
Bryan Roach finished in the third spot
just edging Brandon Selle for the
position. Selle and Chris Weinkauf
finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The second qualifying
race was won by Royle, who would edge
Humphrey and Tommy Pecaro driving a car
normally driven by John Zimmerman.
All three would advance to the feature
race. Michael Bachaus and Kyle
Kinder made up the top five runners.
The B-feature which was
schedule to conclude the program fell to
rain which hit the track during the
support class features, less than a half
hour after the WCS feature contest had
concluded. The weather moved out
of the area by 10:30 p.m. allowing the
fireworks program to continue, but the
balance of the racing program was
aborted for the evening.
The final race of the 2006 schedule for the Wisconsin
Challenge Series presented by Simply
WOW will be held next Saturday evening
at the Marshfield Super Speedway with
the running of the Wisconsin Challenge
Championship 80 presented by Rainbow
Casino and Earth Inc. The highlight of
the program will be a 80 lap feature
contest for the Wisconsin Challenge
Series Super Late Models. Twin 25
lap qualifying races will again be a
part of the program and those not making
the main event will have an opportunity
to race more time this season in a 30
lap B-feature.
In addition to the WCS
Super Late Models the tracks own 4
Cylinder class will be having their
championships races, and championships
will also be held in the 1-Man Cruiser
and Junkyard Warrior classes.
Admission for this event
is a fan friendly $12 for Adults (16 yrs
& up); Students (10-15 yrs) are $6.00,
and Under 10 years of age will be
admitted free.
Pit gates will open at
2:00 p.m., with extended practice
sessions taking place prior to the all
important Miller Time Trials at 5:30pm,
racing will start promptly at 7:00 p.m.
In the event of
inclement weather the rain date will be
held the next day on Sunday, September
17th, will all activities taking place
two hours earlier.
COMPLETE RACESTAT RESULTS
WISCONSIN CHALLENGE 100 PRESENTED BY
BRYDEN MOTORS
Madison International Speedway -
September 8, 2006
100 Lap
Feature: --
1.) Steve Carlson, West Salem; 2.)
Jeremy Lepak, Wausau; 3.) Frank Kreyer,
Pardeeville; 4.) Andrew Morrissey,
Deforest; 5.) Steve Holzhausen, Bangor;
6.) Jeremy Miller, Rockton, IL; 7.) Adam
Royle, Farmington, MN; 8.) Dennis
Prunty, Lomira; 9.) Dean Cornelius,
Chaska, MN; 10.) Jeff Kendall, Montello;
11.) Jacob Humphrey, Lake Geneva; 12.)
Brian Johnson Jr., Machesney Park, IL;
13.) Jeff Storm, Waterford; 14.) Blake
Horstman, Rockland; 15.) Nathan Haseleu,
Pardeeville; 16.) Dave Feiler, Sun
Prairie; 17.) Kyle Calmes, Appleton;
18.) Bryan Roach, Goodhue, MN; 19.) Andy
Monday, Appleton; 20.) Kenny Richards,
Montello; 21.) Steve Rubeck, Cherry
Valley, IL; 22.) Eugene Gregorich Jr.,
Kewaunee; 23.) Tommy Pecaro, Edgerton;
24.) Brian Class, Janesville
First 25
Lap Qualifier: -- 1.)
Adam Royle, Farmington, MN; 2.) Jacob
Humphrey, Lake Geneva; 3.) Tommy Pecaro,
Edgerton; 4.) Michael Bachaus, Beloit;
5.) Kyle Kinder, McFarland; 6.) Josh
Wier, Cottage Grove; 7.) Todd Stapleman,
Wautoma; 8.) Mark Eswein, Wisconsin
Rapids; 9.) Tim Hintz, Nekoosa; 10.)
Gregg Ruffalo, Plainfield
Second 25
Lap Qualifier: -- 1.)
Brian Johnson Jr., Machesney Park, IL;
2.) Kyle Calmes, Appleton; 3.) Bryan
Roach, Goodhue, MN; 4.) Brandon Selle,
Dale; 5.) Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 6.)
Eugene Gregorich Jr., Kewaunee; 7.) Matt
Gawronski, Reedsburg; 8.) Benny Van
Cleve, Prior Lake, MN; 9.) Jason
Weinkauf, Merrill; 10.) Chad Davidson,
Lodi
30 Lap
B-Feature: Rained Out
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